


Something sweet

by errantknightess



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Candy, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 02:17:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6265669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/errantknightess/pseuds/errantknightess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The confection was absurdly sweet, with an interesting, milky taste and a hint of vanilla. It felt funny on the tongue, soft and chewy – but the longer he chewed, the more sticky it got, until Allen found his mouth stuck perfectly shut.</p>
<p>He might have figured out why Bookman was so keen on letting Lavi have these.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something sweet

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday gift for [49thpersona](http://49thpersona.tumblr.com) on tumblr.

One hundred twenty two… one hundred twenty three… one hundred twenty four…

The room swayed gently before his eyes, up and down, up and down, in a slow, steady rhythm. Allen clenched his eyelids, the repetitive movement almost sickening him after all the time he’s been going at it. Still, he didn’t stop, working his arms without a waver and timing his moves to the dry ticking of the clock on the nightstand. With the next push-up, he glanced up at it; half past three in the morning. He didn’t even realize when midnight had come and passed.

One hundred thirty seven… one hundred thirty eight… one hundred thirty nine…

The monotony of the exercise weighed down on his brain, but sleep still wouldn’t come. The endless string of numbers was doing little to occupy his restless thoughts. Allen couldn’t even keep track of how many times he had lost count already. It had to be his third hundred at least, and yet it still wasn’t enough to tire him out. The night was almost done, and it seemed it would go down just like the last one – and the one before – and before that. How long has this been going on?

Allen gave up on counting, his mind starting to wander once again. The cold radiating from the stone floor had his teeth clattering every time his bare chest dipped lower. The heels of his hands ached from pressing up against the flagstones. With a quiet groan, Allen let his arms give way under him and rolled on his side, the pulse in his temple throbbing like a hammer. He took a few deep breaths, keeping the air in his lungs until they burned. Soon, his heartbeat started to slow down, but the knot in his stomach held firm. All of this was useless. It wasn’t his body that’s been keeping him awake; there’s been something on his mind, wriggling and writhing like a can of worms – but for all he tried, he couldn’t pry it open.

A knock on the door tore him out of his thoughts. Allen scrambled up from the floor and hastily pulled his shirt back on, not bothering with the buttons. At this hour, unexpected visitors usually meant some urgent business. Alarming as it was, the thought filled him with an odd excitement. It would be good to get his hands full and put this unrest to use.

Pushing his damp bangs out of his eyes, Allen opened the door and immediately beamed a surprised smile.

“Lavi! When did you get back?”

“Just now,” Lavi replied with a smile of his own, leaning with his shoulder against the doorframe. “Gramps went to sleep right away, so I thought I’d go bother you instead.” He reached out and ruffled Allen’s hair, ignoring how oily it was. “Been working out?”

“Uh, yes.” Allen wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead and stepped aside to let Lavi through the door. “Come in.”

“Don’t mind if I do. It’s been ages!” Lavi eagerly took him up on the offer, poking him in the exposed stomach as he passed. Allen let out a sharp yelp and quickly buttoned up his shirt. Even so, he couldn’t stop the soft smile tugging at his lips.

“I know. And you hadn’t contacted anyone even once,” he pointed out, aiming a jab at Lavi’s ribs in retaliation. Last time they’ve seen each other was over three weeks ago, before Lavi and Bookman left on a mission somewhere in the eastern Europe. “What happened to you?”

“There was no signal.” Lavi scowled, without ceremony throwing himself onto Allen’s pristine bed. “We couldn’t get through. More importantly, what happened to _you_? From what I see, you hadn’t slept a wink yet. Something the matter?”

Allen just shrugged, plopping on the mattress beside him. It was startling how observant Lavi could be, picking up on those things quicker than Allen was able to come up with a convincing excuse. After all, there was no point in dwelling on it if he wasn’t even sure what was wrong – and right now, with his mind set on a new course, his earlier worry seemed almost trivial.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been drinking too much tea lately,” he blurted. “So, how was your mission?”

Lavi’s eye was full of doubt, but as always, he _understood_ – and tactfully acknowledged the diversion.

“Terrible,” he complained, sprawling on his stomach, head rested on his arms. “It was cold and rainy, not a single decent place to stay, and all the trains were late.”

“And you couldn’t even call here to whine about it.” Allen smiled with mocking sympathy and pulled his legs up onto the bed, shifting into a more comfortable position.

“Which is why I’m gonna whine about it to you now.” Lavi grinned, reaching up with one hand to undo his scarf, which he promptly lumped aside together with his headband. “Seriously, it was just the worst.”

“ _Every_ new mission you take is the _worst_ ,” Allen pointed out. “Where did you go this time, anyway?”

“I can’t even pronounce it.” Lavi rolled his eye. “Some godforsaken village just on the eastern bank of the Oder. And get this, they called us to investigate a bunch of _trees_. Though I have to say, at least that was interesting.”

Allen chuckled.

“It really must have been boring if you say _trees_ were interesting.”

“You’d think so.” Lavi pointed a finger at him, a glint in his eye heralding a story to come. “Doesn’t sound like much, but it was weird all right. Never seen anything like that. It seemed like something was kinda… pulling them all in one direction. Like some force had warped the trunks – it sure wasn’t natural. The entire forest, hundreds of pines, all shaped like this.” He raised his finger again, drawing a bumpy curve in the air. Allen followed the gesture with raised eyebrows.

“This does sound a lot like the Innocence. Did you find it?”

“Nope. And we didn’t find out why the trees decided to do yoga, either.” Lavi rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling with half-lidded eye. “It was a waste of time.”

“Oh.” Allen slumped onto the pillow beside him, legs curled up to his chest, absent-mindedly picking at the frayed edge of Lavi’s scarf. Three weeks for a false alarm? That was just disappointing.

For a moment, they both lay in silence, the clock ticking in synch with Allen’s calm breaths. His field of vision was filled with a mess of red hair. Lavi was in a dire need of a haircut, Allen observed briefly, and he quite obviously hadn’t taken a shower yet since he came back. It didn’t bother him. Even in this sorry state, it was good to see his friend again.

“I wish you could’ve come with us,” Lavi spoke up again, his voice softer than before. “I say it was a disaster, but I’m biased, y’know.” He turned his head to face Allen, eyeing him with a lopsided smile. “I think you’d like it there. I’ve never seen so many stray cats roaming around. They were _everywhere_. And the food was great, too.” All of a sudden, he sat upright, patting down his jacket as if it was on fire. Reluctantly, Allen pulled himself up as well. He had almost started to drift away, relaxed in the comfort, and he wouldn’t mind staying like that for a little longer.

“I almost forgot. Here, I brought you something,” said Lavi at last, handing Allen a crinkled paper bag from his pocket. “A souvenir of sorts.”

“What is this?” Allen carefully spilled the contents on the bed between them. The colourful cubes looked innocent enough, though the cross-eyed cow depicted on the paper wrappers didn’t inspire much confidence.

“ _Krówki_.” The foreign word rolled easily off Lavi’s tongue. “It’s a type of candy, a traditional recipe, very popular out there. Kinda like toffee, but not quite. Much better, if you ask me. Even Gramps liked them – well, at least he’d let me buy a whole load without bitching, so I _guess_ he liked them.”

“Really?” Allen sent him an incredulous look. He couldn’t quite imagine Bookman indulging in sweets.

“No kidding. They’re really good.” Lavi rocked sideways on the bed, playfully bumping his shoulder into Allen’s. “Go on, try.”

Under regular circumstances, Allen would have been already wolfing down any food offered to him; but this was Lavi he was dealing with. Past experience told him caution was strongly advised.

Allen picked one of the cubes and slowly plucked it out of the wrapper. The trip in Lavi’s pocket didn’t do them much good. The brown mass was kind of gooey, and he practically had to chomp it off the paper.

“So?” Lavi scooted closer, carefully watching for his reaction. “What do you think?”

Allen wasn’t sure what to think. The confection was absurdly sweet, with an interesting, milky taste and a hint of vanilla. It felt funny on the tongue, soft and chewy – but the longer he chewed, the more sticky it got, until Allen found his mouth stuck perfectly shut.

He might have figured out why Bookman was so keen on letting Lavi have these.

“Mmmf,” he said eloquently, covering his mouth as he felt the goo drip down his chin. “Mmffnnm.”

“I know, right?” Lavi could hardly hold back the laughter. “Beautifully said.”

“Fffmmm, nnff.”

“I’m glad you like them.”

“They’re a tad unsociable,” Allen decided once the unholy spawn of sugar and glue melted away and he regained control of his jaw.

“Nah, they’d be all the rage at parties.” Lavi protested. “You sounded hilarious. People would… Uh, Allen? What are you doing?” He paused and watched with amusement as Allen flicked his tongue out like an overgrown lizard.

“I can’t get them out,” Allen mumbled, working his tongue over his teeth and scraping it against the palate. The remains of the sweet still clung onto his mouth, and with every passing second, it was getting more and more annoying.

“Hmmm, maybe I can help?” The glint in Lavi’s eye was hard to miss as he leaned in close – really close – his hand cupping Allen’s cheek. “Come here.”

“Not a chance, Lavi.” Allen dodged him gracefully, a smirk splitting his face at the sight of Lavi’s confused expression. “You’re not getting any of my sweets!”

Lavi’s face fell a little, but he was quick to mask it with playful indignation as he watched Allen unwrap another piece of candy, completely unfazed. “Harsh, Allen. And after I gave them to you in the first place! Shouldn’t I get a little sweetness, too?”

“Well, if you put it like this…” Allen matched his tone, pretending to hesitate thoroughly. “You know I don’t like sharing my food, but I guess I could make an exception.”

And before Lavi could reply to that, he quickly popped the newly unwrapped sweet smack between his friend’s lips.

“Here you go. Are you happy now?”

Eye wide, Lavi sputtered, groaning something or other through the sticky mess gluing his teeth together.

“Was that a _thank you_?” The grin on Allen’s face was even more sugary than the candy.

“Goddammit, Allen, it still had paper stuck to it.” Lavi winced, picking bits of the wrapper off his tongue. “Come on. You can do better than that.”

“Maybe.” Allen paused for a moment, taking in Lavi’s exaggerated pout and hunched shoulders. Something inside him melted a little, and in a blink, the dangerous mixture of sugar rush and sleep deprivation took over. Slowly, Allen leaned in and pressed their lips together, the faint taste of vanilla immediately overpowered by something much, much better.

“You had a little bit left on you,” he explained innocently when he pulled away a second later. Lavi only blinked at him in stunned silence. But just as Allen started to feel the creeping doubt – and panic – Lavi shook his head with a laugh, breaking the tension.

“Damn, I’ve missed you,” he said simply, throwing his arm around Allen, cheek pressed into his hair. “It was so boring out there without you.”

Allen let his head linger on Lavi’s chest as he turned those words in his thoughts. Now that Lavi had said it out loud, it was so easy to admit it before himself, too. This gnawing anxiety, this void, this odd misplacement that has been trailing him for the last weeks – so _that’s_ what it was. Of course.

“We’re crushing the sweets,” Allen said in a hoarse voice, pressing his face into Lavi’s shirt one last time before he drew back. “I don’t want them smeared all over my bed.”

“Right,” Lavi laughed and let go slowly, his hand dropping from Allen’s shoulder to reach for the candy. “We’d better eat them before they melt completely, what do you say?”

“Mmffmm.”

“Thought so.”

***

It was already dawning when they ran out of sweets and steam and stories to tell. Three weeks apart was a long time to catch up on.

“I guess that’s it.” Lavi yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “I’m gonna go hit the hay now. And I suggest you do the same.” He sent Allen a surprisingly serious look, as much as his bleary eye allowed it.

“I’ll try to.” Allen nodded as he slipped off the bed to walk Lavi to the door. They paused in front of it, uncertain.

“Good. Sweet dreams.” Lavi whispered right by his ear, his sugared breath sweeping over Allen’s hair. A moment later, he was gone, the door closing softly behind him.

Allen sighed and shuffled back to the bed. The sheets were jumbled and strewn with empty wrappers, but he couldn’t be bothered by it. He sank onto the mattress, clothes and all, and calmly – finally – fell asleep, the blanket still warm against his cheek from where Lavi had lain.

 


End file.
